The HCB pushes the semi-final door wide open

HC Bozen and Orli Znojmo have faced each other six times this season and the Foxes have won six times. However, this is the first time that just one goal made the difference. The fact that it was enough in the end was primarily due to the strong Colton Hargrove (3 scorer points), the double goalscorer Domenic Alberga and the at times insurmountable Leland Irving in goal. They led the HCB to a 4:3 win.

Bolzano goalie Leland Irving once again held outstandingly. © R. Pfeffer

The Foxes started their second away game in three days with the same men as last time 4-0 on Friday . Only Dante Hannoun returned to the squad for Ivan Deluca. Znojmo, on the other hand, tried making some changes to the line composition, but this action by coach Miro Frycer did not bear fruit. On the contrary: Colton Hargrove gave the guests an early lead with a fine individual move. The tall Texan came into the spotlight again ten minutes later when he cleverly shielded the puck and then set the scene for Domenic Alberga, who made it 2-0 in the slot. But that wasn't enough, because even before the first siren, Dan Catenacci increased the result even further. He stormed towards Teemu Lassila alone and pushed the disc between his leg pads into the goal to make it 3-0. The Finnish goalie then called it a day and was replaced by Dominik Groh after the first third.

Bolzano was better, but such a high half-time lead was flattering. Znojmo once again acted with a lot of physical strength, but was significantly more disciplined and stronger than in previous games. This became clear in the 25th minute when Anthony Bardaro carelessly passed the puck along the boards, Antonin Boruta quickly played to top scorer Anthony Luciani and he beat Leland Irving with a rip-off. It was the HCB goalkeeper's first goal against in all games in 111 minutes. The Czechs had now tasted blood and were pushing for a goal - until Alberga put a stop to their comeback. After further preparatory work by Hargrove, the Italian-Canadian scored his second goal and ensured that Bozen went into the break with a three-goal lead. Irving holds on for the win In the end, this lead was enough to win, which was primarily due to Irving. The Canadian, who has saved 93% of all shots on goal so far this season, once again exuded enormous confidence and defused one shot after the other. The highlight came seven minutes before the end when Irving parried a shot from Patrick Novak while lying down with both leg pads. In the final minutes, even he was powerless: First Taylor Doherty scored with a hidden shot, only seconds later Ondrej Miklis did the same and reduced the score to 3:4. In the remaining two and a half minutes of the game there was really high tension for the first time in this series. Znojmo now fired from all angles, but was repeatedly denied by Irving, who held spectacularly at times and ultimately saved the narrow lead over time.

The complete gameplay is available here in our live ticker for reading.

HC Bozen now leads the series 3-0. When and where the fourth and possibly final meeting will take place is still completely open. It was originally scheduled for Tuesday in Bolzano, but the measures against the coronavirus are thwarting these plans. In any case, Black Wings Linz, who are also still unbeaten in their series against champions KAC, could be waiting for the Foxes in the semi-finals. HC Orli Znojmo – HCB Südtirol Alperia 3:4 Znojmo: Lassila (from 20.00 p.m. Groh); Doherty-Burlon, Boruta-Cermak, Sova-Miklis, Berisha-Kruckovyc; Svoboda-Flick-Luciani, Novak-Bartos-Beranek, Matus-Cesik-Vopelka, Oscadal-McRae-Bowles Coach: Frycer

HSBC: Irving (Fazio); Flemming-Marchetti, Wiercioch-Tauferer, Robertson-Daly, Glira; Frigo-Arniel-Insam, Giliati-Catenacci-Bardaro, Miceli-Bernard-Frank, Hargrove-Alberga-Poukkula, Hannoun Coach: Ireland

Gates: 0:1 Colton Hargrove (4.03), 0:2 Domenic Alberga (14.51), 0:3 Dan Catenacci (18.05), 1:3 Anthony Luciani (24.21), 1:4 Domenic Alberga (38.12), 2:4 Doherty ( 56.45), 3:4 Miklis (57.26)

Viewers: 1900

Punish: 12:18

Standings in the best-of-7 series: 0:3 The other quarter-final duels: Klagenfurter AC - Black Wings Linz 2:3 Goals: 0:1 Schofield (9.58), 0:2 Brucker (12.34), 0:3 Lebler (33.54), 1:3 Kozek (37.08), 2:3 Kozek (40.29) Audience: 4719 Best of 7 series: 0:3

Vienna Capitals - Graz 99ers 3:2 Goals: 0:1 Oberkofler (21.33), 1:1 Dorion (45.47), 2:1 Dorion (49.56), 3:1 Loney (50.13). 3:2 Kainz (59.59) Audience: 5350 Best of 7 series: 2:1

EC Salzburg - Villacher SV 4:0 Goals: 1:0 Baltram (18.16), 2:0 Huber (29.28), 3:0 Hochkofler (57.38), 4:0 Schiechl (58.31) Audience: 3025 Best of 7 series: 2:1

ICE Regular Season ICE	SP	TV	P
1. Klagenfurt	47	183:101	102
2. Fehervar	46	146:126	89
3. Salzburg	46	142:107	87
4. HCB South Tyrol	46	137:125	76
5. Linz	46	146:116	75
6. Villach	46	155:136	74
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The HCB pushes the semi-final door wide open

HCB Südtirol Alperia is only one win away from the playoff semi-finals. Colton Hargrove, Domenic Alberga and Leland Irving led the Bolzano team to their third win against HC Orli Znojmo. However, this was closer than ever before this season.

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